Mary MacDonald (marymac) wrote in afreshrpg, @ 2012-06-09 23:37:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, retired: mary macdonald, retired: regulus black, time: 1998-06 |
Who: Mary and Regulus
What: Mary has something to tell Regulus and his past paranoia resurfaces.
Where: Their flat in Diagon Alley.
When: Late Saturday evening, early Sunday morning.
Rating: PG-13ish to R-ish, for suggestive themes and language.
Status: Complete.
Mary paced in the small bathroom, twisting her hands nervously as she waited. Bloody Muggles and their bloody contraptions. Of course she could have just gone to see her Healer but no, she had to do it the hard way as she was in denial - the Muggle way. Not that there was anything wrong with the Muggle way. In fact, she suddenly had a new appreciation for them if they had the patience to wait these things out.
Pausing, she glanced over at the counter again and let out a sigh - still nothing. Did she even do it correctly? She had read over the instructions at least three times and even though she had gotten a few different kinds, they all said the same thing. Yet they didn’t appear to be bloody working. Or maybe it was like that old adage of watching a pot of water and how it wouldn’t boil. Or however it went - she was too nervous to even think about correct phrasing right now.
Oh Merlin, something was appearing on one of them - was that two lines? What did two lines mean? She shot forward and grabbed the box to read. Only to drop said box a second later and look back down at the counter. They all showed two lines. She was...
“Bloody hell!” she whispered, letting the news sink in for a moment before grabbing up the trash bin and sweeping them off the counter. She ran her fingers through her hair then took a deep breath then turned back to the door. Okay, she could do this - she had to do this. He had a right to know since there was no doubt that he played a part in the current predicament she found herself in. It was only right to tell him - and pray that he wouldn’t murder her upon hearing the news.
Cracking the bathroom door, she peeked out. “Regulus?”
Regulus was in bed already, flipping lazily through the Falcons’ playbook. Of course the coaches made those calls, but he wanted to visualize the strategies and plays, to make sure that everything was up to the caliber the Falcons were expected to be. The final against the Harpies was going to be brutal and he was determined to do his part to ensure a victory. He glanced up at the bathroom door every now and then - Mary sure was taking a long time getting ready for bed that evening.
She wasn’t a fussy woman, so it normally didn’t take her too long. He listened for sounds of her being sick, as she had often been recently. They’d kept making excuses, saying it was something she ate, some kind of bug, or even nervousness about what his lovely cousin’s husband had said to her. But he should have known better.
Regulus didn’t really hear anything coming from the bathroom, so he went back to flipping through the playbook. Finally, when the bathroom door opened and Mary merely peeked out at him, he looked up at her and quirked an eyebrow, slipping his reading glasses off as he did so. He leaned forward on the bed as her expression told him that something was wrong. “Mary?” he asked, as he started to stand up to go over to her.
Mary paused in the doorway, just watching him for a moment as he sat in bed and looked through his team's playbook. He looked so natural sitting there, so perfect - like he belonged there. And to be honest, she couldn't remember a time when he wasn't sitting there even though it had only been around two months ago.
When he finally looked up at her, she smiled nervously at him, feeling her breath catch in her throat. Breathe, Mary. she told herself, swallowing the lump that had formed. He obviously knew something was wrong as he got a worried look on his face and started to stand up to which she quickly stepped out of the bathroom and waved her hands at him. "No, don't get up." she replied softly, moving closer to the bed. "You may want to be sitting down for this." Or at least have a piece of furniture in between us to give me time to sprint.
She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before exhaling softly. She could do this - all she had to do was round-up some of that Gryffindor courage. "I know you've noticed that I've been ill lately," she started off, trying to not let nerves get to her even though her voice started to shake. "And I know I've been writing it off as a stomach bug. But you and I know that a stomach bug doesn't last as long as this one has."
Mary ought to know by now that Regulus never listened to anything anyone told him, for the most part. He stood up and moved closer to her, the concern was etched plainly on his face as he watched how nervous she appeared to be and listened to what she had to say. In the back of his head, he already knew what was coming next. He knew it and he’d been denying it ever since the passing thought had popped into his head last week. He was denying mostly because he was terrified of the idea - he would be terrible at this and those that were out for blood would be out for it even more now.
He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, but that didn’t calm his nerves. Hell, not even an entire pack of cigarettes could calm him down right now. He nodded sharply and spoke tersely, “I have. And you did. Go on....”
He wasn’t helping matters, he knew. He wasn’t angry...not in the slightest. In fact, he’d always secretly wanted this once he stopped being so selfish. But now it almost felt selfish for him to have allowed this to happen at this point in their lives, when it felt like the world was closing in around them.
Mary pursed her lips, suddenly fighting off the urge to bolt from the room at his tone of voice. But she couldn't stop now. She had to get it out, even if it made him angry - she was already angry with herself. Happy about her condition but angry at herself for allowing it to happen. She had been so careful and yet something had gone wrong.
Realizing she was stalling, she looked up at him and took a deep breath. "It's not a stomach bug." she said slowly. "It's..." Her voice died out and she exhaled again in frustration. Bloody hell, Mary - just tell him! You’ve said the word numerous times before! "It's..." The words just wouldn’t come out.
With another sharp breath, she gave up and reached out, taking his hands. And without a word, she placed them on her stomach, which was still flat. At least for now. That would change in a few months.
Regulus had to remind himself to keep breathing as he waited for her to get the words out. He knew what she was going to say, but hearing them said out loud would make it real. How could they have been so reckless? And why was he so damned happy about it at the same time?
He sucked in a breath, finally, when she put his hands on her belly and briefly wondered why he felt so warm and light-headed. “Son of a...” The words came rushing out of him, right before he hit the floor.
Mary gazed up at Regulus, holding her breath as she waited for his reaction. Of course out of all of the reactions he could have had, he went for the one she had definitely not been expecting.
A soft gasp slipped from her as he fell and upon instinct, she shot forward in an attempt to catch him, failing of course as there was no way she could have possibly caught his weight. She winced a bit as he hit the floor and fell to her knees beside him, her nervousness quickly replaced with worry for him. "Regulus!" She shook him lightly. "Bloody hell, Regulus - wake up!"
She lightly slapped his face. "This better be a good reaction to you becoming a father, you prat!"
Regulus was roused back to consciousness by Mary’s slaps and he slowly opened up his eyes, blinking a few times. First time that had ever happened to him, that was for sure. He was a bit out of sorts as he registered everything that had just happened for the second time around. Mary was pregnant. He was going to be a father. Oh, dear Merlin. He had literally fainted upon hearing the news and was now on the floor because of it. Mary had called him a prat because...oh fuck.
He hadn’t meant to give her the impression that he didn’t want this, but he had. He shook his head lightly and his eyes were wide as he stared at her, still trying to wrap his head around what he’d known last week already but was too afraid to admit it to himself. He tried to speak but his tongue was all tied up and it just came out sounding like a bunch of gibberish. Maybe she needed to slap some sense into him - really slap him - instead of trying to politely wake him up.
Finally, he spoke and it actually made sense. “We’re having a child together? I’m going to be a...father?” He was starting to feel warm again. Merlin, if he fainted again Mary would probably cut off his balls. He tugged at the collar of his t-shirt, as if that would help somehow. He was in shock, he couldn’t help himself.
It really was the best news...just at the worst possible time. He was already starting to freak out as he thought about how the less than savory side of his family and his past would react. He was going to have to get in touch with the Auror department. They needed someone to be constantly watching Mary. Maybe even get a Secret Keeper involved. He mentally went down an entire checklist of precautions he would be enforcing, whether Mary liked it or not, officially starting tomorrow. When his gaze finally fell back to Mary again, he remembered that he hadn’t really fully reacted to the news yet. And he was probably starting to worry her, which wasn’t a good idea.
He snapped out of it and a small smile finally appeared on his face - which quickly grew into the largest grin Mary had probably ever seen from him. “Holy shit, Mare!” He yelled, then looked sheepishly at her and lowered his voice. “Holy shit, Mare.” If he wasn’t rather comfortable where he’d fallen onto the damned floor, he would’ve been jumping up and down at that point. But as it was, he was still kind of really fucking sore from that fall he’d just taken and felt like staying on the ground a little bit longer.
Mary stared down at Regulus, the worry changing back to nervousness when he didn't say anything - just stared at her. It was a bit bothersome as she still couldn't tell what was going on in his head. Was he angry with her for letting this happen? Scared that he was about to become a father? Happy? Sad? He had always been hard to read and it hadn’t bothered her - until now.
Her eyebrows rose slightly when the gibberish poured from his lips and before she could stop herself, her lips curved in a small smile. "Come again?" she teased lightly, surprisingly finding the reaction - if that's what you would call it - rather adorable. The smile brightened a bit when his next actual words came.
"We are - we're having a baby together, Regulus." she repeated, reaching out to touch his cheek lightly. "You're going to be a father." Saying the words was a bit easier now that the realization that she was pregnant had settled in. She was still a bit nervous over how he really felt about the news and if this was okay with him. They had never discussed children before - they hadn't even discussed marriage before. And whereas she'd marry him in a heartbeat, she knew that they would be fine parents, married or not.
She could tell he was deep in thought about something. Knowing him, he was already planning on never letting her leave his sight now that she was expecting. Not that she blamed him - she knew that her condition put them both in danger considering her blood status (or lack thereof) and his family’s ideals. But his silence was really starting to get to her. So much that she'd even be okay with it if he yelled at her for being irresponsible.
She wasn't expecting the grin. Or the following curse, which she promptly burst into laughter over. And it only got worse when he looked sheepish and repeated the curse in a much lower tone of voice. "Honestly, Regulus..."
Regulus had been planning on proposing to her on her birthday, but now he had an even greater reason to do so. Not that it would have been a big deal to either of them, times had changed, they could be unmarried parents and still do fine. But he wanted to marry her and when he proposed, he hoped she’d know that, even though he knew there were going to be some people in their lives that insisted he’d done so just because he felt he had to or that she’d tricked him into it by letting herself get pregnant.
He’d also been planning on keeping that secret, only the people that they really wanted to be there and those that he’d trusted would be invited. Now they were going to have to keep this a secret, too. But there was only so long you could hide a pregnancy before nature took over and announced to the whole world that you were expecting. He just wanted his child...Merlin...his child to be safe. And would give his own life to see that that happened. Yes, he already loved their child that much already. And then he started to worry about their child’s life, how he might possibly smother them and keep them from doing the things that he or she really wanted to do, just because he was paranoid about his disowned family and former Death Eaters and what lengths they might go to to destroy him and his family.
For fuck sake, these were too many thoughts and feelings to be having at once. He had teared up in front of Mary that night they admitted their true feelings for one another, but right now he felt like he might actually start really crying. Everything just seemed so impossible and yet so wonderful at once. He finally realized that Mary had put her hand on his cheek and he reached up for hers like his life depended on it, clutching it tightly in his. They could do this. They would get through this together. Their child would be fine. They’d come out all the stronger because of it. They could do this. Now he’d just have to keep telling himself that.
“That’s...that’s...well...that’s just bloody brilliant, isn’t it?” And then he did start crying. One might think he was the one with the fluctuating hormones.
Mary smiled softly at him when he grasped her hand - a bit too tightly but she wasn't going to complain, not now. And at his words, she nodded. "It is brilliant, Regulus." she agreed softly. "So very brilliant..." Her eyes then widened as he started to cry.
She had never seen him cry before - sure, he had teared up a few times. Like when he had come to see her in the hospital wing after her attack at school. And the first night they saw each other again after twenty-two years - although he didn’t know she had seen that time. And then of course the night they had told each other that they loved each other.
But he had never outright cried in front of her. And just seeing it brought tears to her eyes. Without a word, she leaned over to press her lips against his damp cheek lightly, one arm cradling her midsection, while the hand of her other still held onto his hand.
It was mostly a good kind of crying, though it was definitely mixed with an ‘Oh shit, what have we gotten ourselves into’ kind of crying as well. He was thrilled and terrified all at the same time. He almost missed registering her lips brushing against his cheek because he was so consumed with all of it, but Regulus caught her just before she’d started to pull away and pulled her back to him for a good and proper kiss, which she’d have to forgive him for it being a rather wet and messy one, thanks to the fact that he was still crying quite uncontrollably.
When the kiss was over, Regulus finally sat up next to her and wiped his face off with the sleeves of his t-shirt. Tears were still flowing freely - he guessed he had a lot of them built up from over the years - but at least the sobbing, ugly crying jag was over. He swallowed hard and just stared at Mary once more, then he finally put his hands back over her stomach.
Holy mother of Merlin. They were having a baby.
Mary had started to lean back up when Regulus pulled her back to him, joining their lips this time. And despite his unspoken worries, she barely noticed that it was a bit wetter than normal, nor did she find it to be messy. It was a perfect kiss to go along with their news. She really didn’t think she could ever have a bad kiss with him - not after the length of time it had taken her to finally have him to kiss.
As they broke apart, she straightened up and watched him as he cleaned up his face before reaching for her. She lowered her arms, looking down as his hands spread out over her stomach. The move was so touching that her eyes welled up with tears again, tears that like him, she couldn't hold back and before she knew it, they were zigzagging down her cheeks. At least in her case, she could blame hormones now.
Reaching down, she covered his hand with her own and smiled softly at him through her tears.
Regulus simply stared at Mary for a moment, even though he knew he should be comforting her. He just had to let it sink in that he had his hands resting over their unborn child - the life that they had created together. He sucked in another shaky breath at the thought as she covered his hands with hers. The woman sitting in front of him was now the mother of his child and the love he felt for her grew exponentially at the thought.
He smiled softly at her through his own tears, then finally reached up with one of his hands to wipe her tears off of her face with his thumb.
“I love you,” he said quietly, talking to both Mary and their baby that he still had one hand over.
Mary leaned into his touch as he wiped away her tears, the simple move meaning more to her than he could ever imagine. And at his words, a fresh set of tears welled up in her eyes. "I love you, too." she replied in a soft, shaky voice, muffled by her earlier crying.
Her hand squeezed his lightly as she continued to gaze at him. She still couldn't believe that the man in front of her was the one that she had loved since she was fourteen years old. The one she had always wanted to share this moment with yet never thought she would - not after what had happened. And yet here they were, finally together after so long, about to have a child together.
It was unreal. she almost wanted to pinch herself to see if she was dreaming.
Regulus couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at how they were both continuing to cry. He finally wiped his own tears away again and sighed. “We’re both a mess...but at least you are a very beautiful mess, my dear.” He finished wiping the tears away and took another deep breath, before he stood up and held his hands out to her to help Mary up off the floor.
Everything had finally come full circle for them, he realized, as he pulled her into a hug. He would do everything in his power to protect what they had and he’d be damned if anyone was going to ruin that or bring harm to his family. He squeezed her tightly around her shoulders and pressed his lips firmly into her hair on the side of her head, making her a silent promise that he would protect her and their child from whatever was out there waiting for them.
He finally let go enough to be able to look at her and asked, “So what now? Have our own little celebration? Talk baby names? Is it too early for that?” Merlin, he had no idea what he was doing. This was going to be interesting, even without considering the crazy shit they were likely to face.
Mary couldn't help but laugh as she swiped at her own tears. "We'll see if you're still saying that in a few months when I'm a whale." she teased lightly, taking his hands when he offered them and letting him pull her up.
Without a word, she slipped her arms around his waist and hugged him back, resting her head against his chest, against his heart so that she heard it beating. She could tell he was worried - she was, too. She knew that once this news got out, his cousins wouldn't be happy, especially not after what his cousin's husband had said to her. Their dislike of her kind was obvious. And now she was carrying a Black heir.
Pushing that aside as he released her, she looked up at him and smiled. "It's never too early to think about that." she admitted with a laugh. "From my calculations, I'm midway through my first trimester. We won't know the gender for a while but we can always have some options. Although I'm up for the celebration as well."
“I will love you, no matter how you look. And think that you’re still the most beautiful woman on the planet. Even more so, since you’ll be all pregnant, glowing, and cute. You’re probably going to want to hit me from how often I’ll be patting your belly,” Regulus said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before their hug.
There were a lot of things they had to discuss about what precautions Regulus wanted to take. As he hugged Mary tightly to his chest, he wondered if he should bring them up already or wait until the morning. They could have this one night, right? This one night of not worrying and simply being happy, right? Right. They had every right to be happy about this news, it wasn’t fair that on top of being parents and worrying naturally about their child that they now had to worry about his batshit crazy side of the family and other people in his past that were sure to take interest once they learned that Regulus, their lost brother, so to speak, had gone off and fallen for a muggleborn and had knocked her up.
It was so unfair that he would definitely need a kickboxing class or ten to get the rage that he felt about it out of his system. But that would wait for tomorrow, tonight was theirs. He got control of his negative emotions and thoughts as she looked up at him and Regulus returned her smile. “Here, come with me,” he said, taking her hand in his and leading her to the kitchen. “Late night celebration of whatever we can find in the fridge and then....” He quirked an eyebrow at her and got that familiar devious look in his eyes.
Mary chuckled softly, shaking her head at him. "I think I can handle you patting my belly once it appears." she replied with a small smile, finding the thought a rather lovely one. So lovely that the smile on her face brightened a bit as she imagined him coming up behind her to rub on her stomach.
He was thinking again but she wasn't going to ask him what about, knowing he would tell her when he was ready. So when he held his hand out, she reached out, she took it and chuckled softly as he led her through the small flat. Her eyes rolled up a bit. "Merlin, Regulus - are you really about to offer ice cream to a pregnant woman?" she asked with a chuckle. "And no, don't ask if I want pickles or olives on top of it. I don't think I'm that far gone yet."
Although now that she mentioned it, ice cream sounded good. She moved over to the cabinet to pull out two bowls, pausing when his words drifted off. She glanced back at him and noticed the look in his eyes, a warmth spreading through her. It was so strong that she had to resist the urge to put the bowls back up and drag him back to the bedroom. Instead, her look matched his. "Sounds like a wonderful plan." she murmured, moving back over to the fridge to grab the ice cream.
After fixing two bowls and getting two spoons, she held one out to him. "How about we eat this in bed?"
Regulus shrugged, he really had no idea what he was doing. He’d always heard pregnant women wanted ice cream, anyway. Once he’d gotten everything set into motion the next morning, he’d have to find some time to go out to a bookshop and buy all sorts of books on parenthood and pregnancies - yes, he was actually going to do that, because he was determined to be the best father that he could be and he wanted to play a very active part in Mary’s pregnancy (not that he hadn’t already).
“It sounded like a good idea?” He was utterly clueless, probably one of the few times in his life that he really had no earthly idea what he was doing. But then she’d turned around and returned his devious look and just like Mary, Regulus almost wanted to forget about the ice cream entirely. When she’d continued getting the ice cream out, he figured out where she was going with all of it before she even had to suggest they take it back to their bedroom.
Grinning wickedly at her, he took his bowl and said, “Why, Mary MacDonald, mother of my future child, I like the way you think. Must be that Slytherin in you.” And then he was suddenly wondering what Hogwarts house their child would be sorted into eleven years from now...oh dear Merlin, probably not best to think about that right now or he’d faint again. He pushed that pleasant, yet scary thought out of his head as well and took ahold of her hand again, leading her back to their bedroom.